🗺️ To fold again 🧬 To reshape protein

to refold

1 8.2

Help a protein or molecule return to its right shape after it unfolds

verb
/riːˈfoʊld/

Specialized

: replegar

To study its properties, they had to refold the enzyme carefully after it had lost its three-dimensional structure.
refold proteins

Examples

After the experiment, the researchers observed how the molecules could refold into their active shapes when cooled.
And this this this refolding of the protein basically allow this non functional GOP protein become functional again.
When they unfolded and refolded the RNA rapidly (34 and 52 pN/s), they generally did work on the molecule.

Academic text (2002)
The scientist was able to refold the protein to restore its original function after it had been denatured by heat.

Antonyms

to denature

Specialized

2 7.4

Make a protein lose its natural shape so it stops working

How Folded

to refold

Specialized

1 8.2

to misfold

Specialized

1 7.9

to denature

Specialized

2 7.4

Surface Forms

refold infinitive

refolded past

refolded past participle

refolding present participle

refolds third person singular

Morphology

refold = fold (semi-transparent) = re + fold

The prefixation is regular, but understanding this sense depends on knowing the specialized scientific sense of 'fold' for proteins and molecules.

Etymology

Refold comes from re- ('again') and fold, so in science it means to make a protein or molecule fold back into its correct shape after it has lost that shape.